


Grief

by missbecky



Category: Iron Man (Comic), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Angst, Avengers Disassembled, F/M, Gen, Grief, missing moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 12:19:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1428223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A moment of grief. That's all Tony allows himself. Steve is just thankful he doesn't have to endure it alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grief

**Author's Note:**

> Previously posted on Tumblr.

"Are you going to tell me it's not my fault, too," Tony says dully, and abruptly Steve changes tactics.

It's nearly dusk; the shadows are growing thicker. Here in California the light looks different than it does in New York. But night is still night, and Steve is no stranger to grief.

"I'm not going to tell you that," he lies. "I just want to ask you a question. Could you have stopped her from coming to see you?"

Tony stares out at the ocean, maybe trying to find some comfort in the rhythm of the waves. After a long moment, he smiles a little, obviously reluctant, as though it hurts him. "No one could stop Ru from doing anything she wanted to do," he says.

This is exactly the answer Steve expected. "Then you don't need me to tell you it wasn't your fault," he says. "You already know it isn't."

Tony looks away again, refusing the offer of amnesty. And this too Steve expected. When it comes to accepting blame, Tony Stark is a genius.

They stand in silence for a while on the balcony, as the sun sinks further into the ocean. Steve is supposed to ask Tony to come back to New York, so they can sort out what happened at the UN and with the Avengers. But it seems crass to bring that up now when Tony is just returned from Kyoto and the funeral. It can wait, he tells himself.

The sun is nearly gone when Tony says quietly, "I bought a ring." He doesn't say anything else. He doesn't need to.

Steve closes his eyes. He knows the pain of that dream, of wanting a life he can't have. They all do. And while he would not have thought Tony could be the type to settle down, he wonders what it would have been like anyway – and he wishes with all his heart that Tony had been given the chance to find out.

He looks over, and his heart skips a beat when he sees that Tony is crying, his head bowed, his eyes closed. All the years they've been friends, and he can count on one hand the number of times he's seen Tony cry.

He doesn't say anything. He just crosses the slight distance between them, and then Tony is in his arms, crying for the love he knew so briefly.

Steve knows that this won't last, that before this night is over, they will be on their way back to New York, that he will never see Tony cry for Rumiko again. They will not speak of her, or of the guilt Tony feels. Like so many of the horrors they have experienced, it will be pushed down deep, where it will be forged into a new, determined will for the future.

For now, though, there is this moment, and this grief. And Steve is thankful he is here for it, that Tony does not have to endure it alone.


End file.
